Design and Construction
The hull and bulkheads are lightweight fiberglass/foam composites, and the hull itself is a hand-laid GRP shell reinforced by a grid of frames and stringers, capped by an 8mm teak deck vacuum-glued to a sandwich GRP deck layout. Visually, the boat wears mahogany-sheathed false coaming and cabintop sides, with control lines running in galleries behind them; those panels can be removed and stowed under cover when the boat is laid up. At 39 feet 4 inches overall with a 35-foot 6-inch waterline, a 10-foot 6-inch beam, and 7 feet 9 inches of draft, she is a bulb-keeled spade-rudder monohull carrying 3,086 pounds of lead ballast against 10,582 pounds displacement — a 29 percent ballast ratio that, with her 29.27 sail-area-to-displacement figure, speaks to a lively yet settled platform.
Rig and Handling
A carbon fiber spar rises over a fractional sloop rig, and a self-tacking jib simplifies short-handed work upwind. Sail controls are led aft to a quartet of Harken winches in the cockpit, concentrating trim authority at the helm. Twin carbon-fiber wheels — leather-trimmed for grip — let the helmsman stand behind either one and see the sail plan clear of the cabintop, a layout that suits a boat meant as much for guests as for crew.
Accommodations
Below, the accommodations are minimalist but adequate, offered in a choice of two base layouts. One option is an open-plan interior drawn by Philippe Starck, a stylist's interpretation of compact liveaboard space rather than a conventional cabin plan. On deck, long teak-covered bench seats and comfortable padded backrests let guests recline while the boat is worked from the wheels, blurring the line between cockpit and saloon.
Equipment and Deck Appointments
The work area clusters around the twin wheels, with the Harken winches and led-aft controls defining the cockpit ergonomics. A 29hp Yanmar diesel provides auxiliary power, backed by a 3 x 110Ah electrical bank, with 13 gallons of diesel and 26 gallons of water carried — figures consistent with a boat biased toward sailing rather than motoring or extended cruising.
The Verdict
The Tofinou 12 is a distinctive large daysailer: a light, low-slung Joubert/Nivelt hull with a carbon rig and a genuinely social cockpit, offered with an artist-designed interior for owners who value form as much as function. She is not a volume cruiser, but she is a considered object.
Pros
- Substantial weight savings over typical 40-foot production boats
- Carbon spar and led-aft controls for clean cockpit management
- Removable coaming panels for off-season storage
- Twin wheels with teak seating and padded backrests
Cons
- Minimalist accommodations limit cruising range
- Shallow fuel and water capacity for extended passages
- Nearly eight-foot draft restricts anchorage choices
